THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LIFE OF OTHERS 291 



Pass from the unicellular plant to one of the 

 higher phanerogams, and the self-sacrificing function 

 is seen at work with still greater definiteness, for 

 there we have a clearer contrast with the other 

 function. To the physiologist a tree is not simply 

 a tree, but a complicated piece of apparatus for 

 discharging, in the first place, the function of Nutri- 

 tion. Root, trunk, branch, twig, leaf, are so many 

 organs — mouths, lungs, circulatory-system, aliment- 

 ary canal — for carrying on to the utmost perfection 

 the Struggle for Life. But this is not all. There 

 is another piece of apparatus within this apparatus 

 of a wholly different order. It has nothing to do 

 with Nutrition. It has nothing to do with the 

 Struggle for Life. It is the flower. The more its 

 parts are studied, in spite of all homologies, it 

 becomes more clear that this is a construction of a 

 unique and wonderful character. So important has 

 this extra apparatus seemed to science, that it has 

 named the great division of the vegetable kingdom 

 to which this and all higher plants belong, the 

 Phanerogams — the flowering plants ; and it recog- 

 nizes the complexity and physiological value of 

 this reproductive specialty by giving them the place 

 of honour at the top of the vegetable creation. 

 Watch this flower at work for a little, and behold 

 a miracle. Instead of struggling for life it lays 



